Day 20: Jabiru

It's hard to believe that we have been on the road for almost three weeks!

We had a good day today - went to Ubirr, about 30 kilometres north of Jabiru to ther Arnhem Land border. You can't go any further without a permit. Enroute, we had to drive through a couple of crossings where the water was 40cm deep. They say that a Prado is good for 70 cm but that would scare me a bit too much - worried about not having diff breathers, etc......

Ubirr has an abundance of rock art on the 90 minute walk we went on. The highlight however was the view of the wetlands from the top of one of the rocky outcrops. I have put some of these photos below but they do not do justice to the magnificent scenes as we were there at noon! (& sometimes/often my photography is crap). Definitely be there at sunrise (fools) or sunset if you value great photography!

After taking the walk, we had a picnic lunch at Cahills Crossing. We had heard that the crocodiles chase the barramundi at the crossing on the change of the tide. This was not to be, however Doug & I both pulled out our expandable 12 foot rods and them in. You have to use lures (soft rubbers best) because you are in a National Park. I caught nothing, and Doug caught two small fish but had to throw them back. The legal size of a barra here is 55cm (a big fish). The tide was incredible here. One moment it was coming in and then the next it was pouring out at an incredible rate of knots!
However, wetting the line has made me a bit keen to do it again so I have left my rod assembled in the pod on top of the car roof.

Following the fishing expedition, it was back to the van, clean up, swim in the pool, check the photos, do the washing, then go out for dinner.

Gary & Joan shouted Lorelle & I dinner so we chose the most expensive thing we could - steak, chips & salad!!! (They got the last tow barras.) It was a great night by the edge of the pool. Terry & Lyn Grant, previously from Gatton, also joined us for the night. Terry drives a truck for Ranger Uranium and Lyn works at the visitor information centre. Their son-in-law is a police officer in Jabiru.

Following dinner, we sat outside Doug's van for a final few drinks before calling it a night. Tomorrow morning at 8:30am we head for Katherine and Gary & Joan head for Darwin. It has been good having them here for the last week or so. We will miss them!

Tomorrow - Katherine for us! Gary & Joan leave for Darwin.